Usanewsonline.com desk: Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dwayne Gaddy was indicted and arraigned today on charges of kidnapping, robbery and other crimes for the hijacking of a crowded MTA bus in Cambria Heights last month using what appeared to be a handgun. The approximately 30 passengers on board the bus were able to escape. The driver also managed to escape before Gaddy crashed the bus into a utility pole. District Attorney Katz said: “If not for the quick-thinking bus driver remaining calm and collected under pressure, the outcome would have been far worse. We cannot allow confidence in our public transit system to be undermined and will not let this brazen lawlessness go unanswered in Queens County. The defendant has been charged accordingly and faces justice in our courts.”

Gaddy, 44, of 201st Place in St. Albans, Queens, was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino on an 11-count indictment charging him with kidnapping in the second degree, grand larceny in the second and fourth degree, three counts of robbery in the second degree, two counts of assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, unlawful imprisonment in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Justice Cimino ordered the defendant to return to court on December 15, 2022. If  convicted,Gaddy faces up to 25 years in prison.

According to the charges, on October 27, 2022, at approximately 7:30 a.m., the defendant ran in front of an eastbound Q4 MTA on Linden Boulevard while carrying a black bag and blocked the path of the vehicle. The defendant allegedly demanded to be let on board stating, “Let me on the bus, they are trying to kill me!”

When the operator refused to let him on the bus, the defendant then produced what appeared to be a firearm and pointed it at the vehicle. The bus operator opened the door, allowing the defendant to board, at which point Gaddy allegedly walked up and down the center aisle holding the weapon. According to video surveillance later retrieved from inside the vehicle, the bus driver is seen opening the doors so that the approximately 30 passengers could safely disembark, as the defendant stood next to the driver with the weapon. As the bus operator continued driving the bus he attempted to reason with the defendant while opening the driver’s side window. After driving several more blocks, the driver was able to jump out of the side window, leaving the defendant alone on the bus near the intersection of 231st Street and Linden Boulevard. As alleged, the defendant immediately attempted to take the steering wheel and lost control of the bus, careening into a utility pole between 223rd and 234th Streets.

The defendant was apprehended immediately after the crash across the street from the collision and taken to a local hospital. The MTA bus operator was transported to a local Queens hospital where he was treated for bruising to his elbow and hip, lacerations and abrasions to his arm and finger and substantial pain. Assistant District Attorney Samuel Pellegrino of the District Attorney’s Felony Trial Bureau I, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Robin Leopold, Bureau Chief and Barry S. Weinrib, Senior Deputy Chief and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Supreme Court Trial Division Pishoy Yacoub. Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.